COLORADO SPRINGS — Top athletes are in Colorado Springs this week for the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
The competition is also important for the Colorado Springs, Olympic City USA brand.
“Our job at the Colorado Springs Sports Corp is to pitch the city as a destination for sports and sports tourism events,” said Colorado Springs Sports Corporation, Director of Sports Tourism and Olympic Engagement, Davis Tutt.
Other cities bid to host events like the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
Colorado Springs based Sports Corp lobbies, negotiates and bids to get the nod over those other cities.
"The world of sports tourism is competitive. There are states and cities are creating new funding mechanisms to incentivize events to come to their cities because they realize the economic benefit," said Tutt.
The synchronized skating competition brings close to 2,000 competitors and coaches.
Family, friends and fans bring thousands more.
“Our coaches give us a little bit of sightseeing time, so it's also great for the legs to walk around before practice,” said team Hayden Select skater, Nicole Buddie.
You get people to come for competition, and they're staying three, four, five days in hotel room nights. They're spending money at restaurants. They're going downtown,” said Tutt.
The Olympic City USA brand can give a competitive edge in the process of attracting events.
26 National Governing Bodies like USA Figure Skating are based in Colorado Springs and they like including the home town in their rotation of event locations.
“Whether it's hosting events with organizations who are supposed to be or trying to be part of the Olympic Games, or with organizations who want to move to Colorado Springs because they want to be closer to the Olympic movement and really be part of the ecosystem that we have here in Colorado Springs,” said Tutt.
Synchronized skating now and more Olympic City events are ahead in 2025..
“USA weightlifting will be hosting their national championships at Robson Arena, which is on the Colorado College campus. And then USA Cycling will actually be hosting three of their track national championships at the Velodrome and Memorial Park,” said Tutt.
Latest Colorado wolf activity map shows movements closer to Front Range
In the latest Colorado collared wolf activity map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), the state’s gray wolves have greatly expanded their footprint compared to a month ago.
